IN LOVING MEMORY OF
John
Laferty
March 3, 1937 – August 17, 2009
Obituary
Listen to Obituary
Cdr. John Denison Laferty, USN (ret.), 72, a resident of Severna Park for 27 years and a native of Towson, Maryland, died Aug. 17 at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie from complications of a recurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer.
"Denny" was born March 3, 1937, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1959) and played midfield and defense on their lacrosse team, lettering his junior year. After graduating from flight school in December 1960, he served with Squadron VS-39 at the Naval Air Station in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, piloting S-2F and S-2D anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex. He served as the landing signal officer (LSO) aboard the Essex and flew blockade and surveillance flights during the Cuban Mission Crisis in 1962. While on ship, he was selected to serve with the USN Aeronautical Engineering Duty (AED). He graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in June 1967 with a professional engineering degree in aeronautical engineering.
He served as a test pilot at the Naval Air Rework Facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, from June 1967 to June 1970. He flew with Air Tevron One (VX-1) at the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida from June 1970 to March 1973. He was assigned to the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, DC, from March 1973 to August 1977, and played an instrumental role in the development of the S-3 Carrier On-board Delivery (COD) aircraft. He worked as a systems engineering manager with the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania from August 1977 to June 1979, where he played a leading role in the development of the Navy's Vertical and Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) program.
After retiring from the Navy, he started a second career as an engineer for Martin Marietta (which later became Lockheed Martin) in Orlando, Florida. He worked there for three years until he transferred to the facility in Middle River, Maryland where he remained until his retirement in 2002. During his career with Lockheed Martin, he served as systems engineering manager on the Vertical Launching System (VLS), a missile system that was successfully deployed on the USN's Aegis Class Cruisers. In the years preceding his retirement, he was systems engineering manager on the USN's high altitude missile defense system that was successfully tested off the coast of Hawaii shortly before he retired. At his retirement ceremony, a senior Lockheed executive whom he had mentored in Orlando when the executive was a young engineer in Orlando said, "When I thought of an engineer who could figure out how to hit a missile with a missile, I thought of Denny."
Unfortunately, in July 1994 he was diagnosed with Stage-4 nasopharyngeal cancer. He fought the disease tenaciously and was an outstanding inspiration to his family, friends, and co-workers. He enjoyed 15 more quality years before being diagnosed with a recurrence in July 2009.
He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, who enjoyed tinkering, tennis, captaining his boat "Tenacity", and playing poker and pitching horse shoes with his neighborhood friends.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Holm Laferty of Halifax, Nova Scotia, whom he married February 24, 1962; his son, John S. Laferty and daughter-in-law Margaret O'Connell Laferty of Silver Spring,
Maryland; his daughter Pamela Laferty Pittman and son-in-law Jay Pittman and their children Elizabeth Jean, Andrew Edward, and Joseph Denison of Pocomoke City, Maryland; his daughter Maureen Laferty Minarik and son-in-law Dan Minarik and their children Gillian Eleanor and Alaina Grace of Wickford, Rhode Island; his brother Craig W. Laferty of Timonium, Maryland; and his sister Cheryl A. Laferty of Clifton, Virginia.
There will be a wake Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at from 6 to 8 pm at Barranco's Funeral Home in Severna Park, Maryland. Funeral services will be Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 2:00 pm at St. Andrews Chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy. Committal will be in the Naval Academy Columbarium immediately following the funeral service. All guests are invited to join the family for a celebration of Denny's life at the USNA Officer's Club.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Denny's memory to the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or www.cancer.org.
Online condolences can be made at www.barrancofuneralhome.com.
"Denny" was born March 3, 1937, in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1959) and played midfield and defense on their lacrosse team, lettering his junior year. After graduating from flight school in December 1960, he served with Squadron VS-39 at the Naval Air Station in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, piloting S-2F and S-2D anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex. He served as the landing signal officer (LSO) aboard the Essex and flew blockade and surveillance flights during the Cuban Mission Crisis in 1962. While on ship, he was selected to serve with the USN Aeronautical Engineering Duty (AED). He graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in June 1967 with a professional engineering degree in aeronautical engineering.
He served as a test pilot at the Naval Air Rework Facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, from June 1967 to June 1970. He flew with Air Tevron One (VX-1) at the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida from June 1970 to March 1973. He was assigned to the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, DC, from March 1973 to August 1977, and played an instrumental role in the development of the S-3 Carrier On-board Delivery (COD) aircraft. He worked as a systems engineering manager with the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania from August 1977 to June 1979, where he played a leading role in the development of the Navy's Vertical and Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) program.
After retiring from the Navy, he started a second career as an engineer for Martin Marietta (which later became Lockheed Martin) in Orlando, Florida. He worked there for three years until he transferred to the facility in Middle River, Maryland where he remained until his retirement in 2002. During his career with Lockheed Martin, he served as systems engineering manager on the Vertical Launching System (VLS), a missile system that was successfully deployed on the USN's Aegis Class Cruisers. In the years preceding his retirement, he was systems engineering manager on the USN's high altitude missile defense system that was successfully tested off the coast of Hawaii shortly before he retired. At his retirement ceremony, a senior Lockheed executive whom he had mentored in Orlando when the executive was a young engineer in Orlando said, "When I thought of an engineer who could figure out how to hit a missile with a missile, I thought of Denny."
Unfortunately, in July 1994 he was diagnosed with Stage-4 nasopharyngeal cancer. He fought the disease tenaciously and was an outstanding inspiration to his family, friends, and co-workers. He enjoyed 15 more quality years before being diagnosed with a recurrence in July 2009.
He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, who enjoyed tinkering, tennis, captaining his boat "Tenacity", and playing poker and pitching horse shoes with his neighborhood friends.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Holm Laferty of Halifax, Nova Scotia, whom he married February 24, 1962; his son, John S. Laferty and daughter-in-law Margaret O'Connell Laferty of Silver Spring,
Maryland; his daughter Pamela Laferty Pittman and son-in-law Jay Pittman and their children Elizabeth Jean, Andrew Edward, and Joseph Denison of Pocomoke City, Maryland; his daughter Maureen Laferty Minarik and son-in-law Dan Minarik and their children Gillian Eleanor and Alaina Grace of Wickford, Rhode Island; his brother Craig W. Laferty of Timonium, Maryland; and his sister Cheryl A. Laferty of Clifton, Virginia.
There will be a wake Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at from 6 to 8 pm at Barranco's Funeral Home in Severna Park, Maryland. Funeral services will be Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 2:00 pm at St. Andrews Chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy. Committal will be in the Naval Academy Columbarium immediately following the funeral service. All guests are invited to join the family for a celebration of Denny's life at the USNA Officer's Club.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Denny's memory to the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or www.cancer.org.
Online condolences can be made at www.barrancofuneralhome.com.
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